Wordless Wednesday #55 ~ A Dog's Life

 Watching Nathan's baseball game...

 Rough life...lounging on a handmade afghan...

Sleeping with the Daddy!

Baseball Season

 Nathan is playing travel ball again this year.  He is really a natural athlete and excels on the field.  He has started pitching more and more and even has the highest strike to ball ratio on the team.

I LOVE watching him play!

23 Water Bottles!

I tried to get Nathan's baseball bag from my car, and I could barely lift it!  I looked inside and found 23 half-drunk water and Gatorade bottles!!  SERIOUSLY...the recycle people would be having a heart attack!  I emptied them out, and we started over.  I've tried numerous refillable water bottles over the years, but they ALWAYS leak and make a huge mess in their bags or the car.

Baseball in the FOG!

Yesterday morning Nathan had a game scheduled for 8 a.m. and we had to have a "fog" delay. I've never heard of such a thing, but it was certainly necessary! These are pictures of the boys warming up on the field...it was cold, wet, and foggy! Nathan is in the middle with the black sweatshirt.

Grammy and Grampy braved the weather!

The Sunday morning Starbucks Club...

Let's go CATS!!

My cute #15!

Down and ready...

Muddy, grassy, gross shoes!

Finally, the sun shone through and it was a beautiful day, but NOT a great game for us!

The huddle...so cute!

Nathan pitched, but not his best game...

STRIKE!

LOVE watching my boys play ball!

Nathan's All-Star Team ~ 2011

Nathan was chosen for the All-Star Team again this year, and he is very happy about that! It is such a great group of kids and parents...and SO FUN to watch! Wow, these boys are awesome baseball players!

Here's Nathan playing 3rd base, I think that is his best position. He can really fire the ball over to first base!

Running the bases!

Now...he made it home!! Hooray Nathan!

Getting the out! His team won their first 2 games and have a 3rd game on Wednesday. Can't wait!!

Season Over...

Coach Jim was Nathan's manager again this year...Darrell and Kyle were the coaches! Even though the boys did not win a bunch of games, they had a great time and learned so much! We had our end of the season party at Coach Jim's house last night. Chad, on the left, is Jim's son...he and Nathan have been friends since they were 3 years old in preschool.

Jim said the sweetest things about all of the boys. He's such a great coach and helps the kids become better people and better teammates! Nathan thrives on his teams.

Nathan and Chad...baseball buddies!

Coach Kyle...

Swimming before dinner...always a good way to start summer!

Bye Bye Baseball

Kyle had his final High School Varsity Baseball Banquet last night...it was bittersweet for me. I am so proud of him and the person he's become, but also a little sad that he's closing this chapter of his life. The banquet was beautiful! We all got photos of us with our players...ours is front and left.

The boys clean up real good! Kyle is sitting at the far end...in the vest.

Here is Coach Wooten giving Kyle his award...he always has really sweet things to say about him...always makes me cry!

One parent framed poster-sized photos of the boys, they are beautiful and will hang in our bonus room!

Kyle has spent countless hours on the baseball field and has made many great friends and awesome memories! These past 3 years of baseball have been memorable for all of us!

Kyle's Surgery

Pre-Op...

Waiting...

The Pre-Op talke with the Drs...

Had to have hospital bracelets on his ankles because both of his arms were having surgery...

After surgery...we were so happy to see these two guys with smiles on their faces. The surgery went well. They removed the torn ligament, relieved a pinched nerve and removed a bone chip.

Waiting to go back to the recovery room...

Just waking up...

Ready to go home at 6:30. We had checked in at 11:30...it was a LLLOOONNNGGG day for all of us!! So glad it's over!!

Wordless Wednesday #40 ~ Kyle's Surgery Day

Surgery at 1:30...we're ready...and scared!

Kyle's Baseball Team...So CUTE!!

Before each Varsity home game, we take turns having the whole team to our houses for dinner. It's so fun to see the boys "off the field." A couple of days ago, we had the party at Sammy's house and we were the helper family. I brought drinks, dessert, and appetizers and Sammy's family supplied the main dish. Since they are Japanese, his Mom made sushi!

I couldn't believe the boys LOVED the sushi! They also had Teriyaki chicken, eggrolls, and fruit. The boys are SO CUTE and well-mannered!

After the dinner, they went in the front yard to play a game. Basically, it goes like this. You have to catch 2 baseballs, one in each hand, at one time...thrown across the circle. If you drop one, you remove one article of clothing, if you drop both, then 2 pieces of clothing. We were CRACKING UP. After the boys had removed as many clothes as possible, they must leave the game. Well...shortly after this picture, the coach pictured in the front of the photo, turned on the hose and sprayed the boys. They scattered and so he drenched their clothes...

I am very proud of Kyle for the choices that he is making and the friends he chooses!